


underestimated, undefeated in this love

by slackeuse



Category: Wanna One (Band)
Genre: M/M, best friends to lovers au, jihoon digs his own grave in this one though, jihoon has a shitload of exes, light angst with happy ending (i promise), mostly 2park being 2park, whipped 2park culture, woojin is the certified best boyfriend
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-05
Updated: 2018-11-05
Packaged: 2019-08-17 16:35:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,713
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16520093
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/slackeuse/pseuds/slackeuse
Summary: Since each and every one of Jihoon’s exes ended up falling madly in love with their next partner and married within a year, Woojin is pretty damn sure dating Jihoon is the best way for him to leave his bachelor lifestyle behind.





	underestimated, undefeated in this love

**Author's Note:**

  * For [burnintoash (funnymorning)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/funnymorning/gifts).



Jihoon isn’t quite sure why he asks Woojin to go to Sungwoon and Daniel’s wedding as his plus one. He should’ve known it was a terrible idea.

First, because all weddings are boring by default and he should’ve just said  _no, can’t go, but yes, I’ll house sit for you during your honeymoon_.

Second, because Daniel is Jihoon’s ex and he met Sungwoon right after they broke up, which isn’t the first time that’s happened. Nor is this the first wedding he’s been invited to because he played the unwilling matchmaker through heartbreak. He knows exactly what he’ll feel like watching them exchange vows, slip rings on each other’s fingers, kiss in front of their closest friends and family. That feeling is the epitome of shitty. He likes to avoid feeling that particular brand of shitty.

Third, he should’ve anticipated how Woojin would react. They’re best friends, after all.

“Free food?” Woojin is grinning like he’s been asked to dine for free at a Michelin starred restaurant. “Fuck yes. Free booze? Fuck yes. Time with you? Fuck yes. Blackmail material on Sungwoon hyung and Daniel hyung? Hell fucking yes. I’m in.”

“Take it back,” Jihoon says, throwing a handful of popcorn at him.

“What? No.” Woojin doesn’t even flinch. He crosses his arms over his chest and frowns just enough to tell Jihoon that he’s going to be stubborn on this one. “I want to go. You can’t just invite me and then say I can’t go.”

Time to guilt trip him with the truth. Jihoon sighs with his entire body. “I was hoping you’d say no so I had an excuse not to go. I think I’ve been to enough of my ex’s weddings.”

“Okay, but again, you invited me already and I accepted the invitation. You can’t rescind it now. You shouldn’t have invited me. We’re going.” With that, Woojin manages to steal the remote from Jihoon and restart the episode of  _Brooklyn-99_  Jihoon had paused so he could invite Woojin in the first place. “And you need to be out of here in an hour. Gunna get laid.”

Jihoon rolls his eyes. “You’re such a dick. When’re you going to stop fucking around?”

“And yet here you are. I’ll stop when I find the right person, probably. Maybe this one’ll be it.”

“You’re not going to fall for someone you just fuck every once in a while then toss aside for the next one, and you know it. You’re fucking around because you  _don’t_ want to find the right person, so yeah, this one won’t be it.” Jihoon grins at Woojin although there’s a bitter taste in his mouth. He slaps Woojin on the arm. “But that’s fine. You’re my favorite dick still.”

Now Woojin is grinning. He leans in, and maybe Jihoon’s face is flushing. “You haven’t even had my dick and it’s your favorite? You wanna stay over instead?”

“In your dreams.” Jihoon pushes him away, but Woojin doesn’t budge.

He scoffs. “Only that one time. Why did I ever tell you that? That was so fucking stupid of me.”

“Because you tell me everything.”

“Because we’re best friends.”

“Which is why I think you should consider, at some point, trying to settle down. We’re almost old. We’ve got careers. We need to think about buying houses, getting married.” Jihoon wraps his arms around his legs and looks back at the TV in hopes that Woojin won’t be able to read the expression on his face. “Which is another reason I don’t want to go to another wedding.”

“You went to the others without me. This one’ll be different.” He cracks open another beer, and that’s that.

They don’t talk about the wedding again except over text when Jihoon is telling Woojin when he’s picking him up. Then exactly three months later, Jihoon and Woojin are walking into the wedding venue in black suits and matching ties and shiny dress shoes. They’d accidentally bought the same tie for each other a few years back, and it seems like some sort of poetic justice that they’d both choose today to wear it for the first time.

As expected, the wedding isn’t any different than the other weddings Jihoon has attended. Daniel and Sungwoon are obviously in love and obviously happy. They’re a beautiful couple with a beautiful wedding. Even better, there are at least five other couples there that Jihoon unintentionally helped get together by breaking up with one (or both, in Seongwoo and Minhyun’s case) parties. It’s one thing to be surrounded by all your exes. It’s another to be surrounded by all your exes being happy and in love together. When will he find someone? When will he have that?

Jihoon is driving Woojin back home when Woojin does what Jihoon had feared—what he’d expected, been expecting, because isn’t that how the world works?

“That wasn’t so bad,” Woojin says.

“For you,” Jihoon counters.

“You’ve had that, though,” Woojin says. “You’ve been in love. You’ve been with someone you thought that maybe you could, you know, do the marriage thing with. I had that one girlfriend back in high school that I was a little serious with, but since then? Just flings. Just casual shit or just sex or friends with benefits. Nothing lasting, nothing real.”

This is when Jihoon knew that taking Woojin was a mistake.

Woojin says, looking down at his hands, voice low, “I want that, too. I think. I think I want to try it. Maybe you were right? What you said a couple months ago. I’ve been thinking about it a lot. Maybe I didn’t want that before and that’s why I haven’t really tried. But I think I’m ready now.”

Jihoon doesn’t say anything immediately. He knows he has to choose his words carefully. He settles with, “That’s good. That’s really good. I’m happy for you. I know you’ll find someone perfect for you.”

Woojin chuckles, but it’s dry and maybe a little hollow. “I don’t even know where to start, though. Part of me just wants to date  _you_  because after we break up, it’s pretty much guaranteed I’ll find someone and marry them.”

Of course, the light changes and Jihoon has to stop. He’s holding his breath for what he know Woojin will surely say next. Then he decides to just fuck it. It’ll be better this way.

“Fine,” Jihoon says.

This way, Jihoon can keep some semblance of distance from the situation since at least it’s on his terms. Because at least then he doesn’t have to agonize over the fact that Woojin asked him to date anticipating their break up because Woojin didn’t really  _ask_. This is Jihoon just saying yes. Very different things.

“Oh.” Woojin doesn’t seem like he knows quite what to do, and then he just bursts out laughing. “That was a lot easier than I thought? Alright then. Wow. Best friends to boyfriends, huh. That’s some fanfiction shit.” And as if to emphasize how ridiculous it is, he reaches over and takes Jihoon’s hand in his own. He entwines their fingers. “Fuck yeah. I’m going to be an amazing boyfriend, you know.”

Jihoon hopes he’s not. “Yeah, with all that experience and shit.”

“Shut up. You’ll see. I’m going to fake sweep you off your feet before you finally deign to dump me. This’ll be good practice.” Woojin, for some fucking reason, kisses the back of Jihoon’s hand. “Thanks. I promise you won’t regret this.”

Oh, he will. He definitely will.

“We’ll have to date at least a week,” Jihoon says as he finally pulls up to Woojin’s apartment building. “I dated Seongwoo hyung for a week and then he met Minhyun hyung, so that’s the shortest amount of time I can guarantee you. But if you’re a shit boyfriend, I’ll dump you before that.”

Woojin chuckles. “Got it.” With the car stopped, he unbuckles, but then he leans over while still holding Jihoon’s hand and gives him a kiss on the cheek. “I’ll see you soon, boyfriend. Text me when you get home? So I know you’re safe?” Then he kisses the back of Jihoon’s hand one more time and gets out.

It takes Jihoon five minutes to calm his heart down enough to finally pull away from the curb and drive home. As he’s taking off his shoes and coat, he hears his phone vibrate with a new message. It's Woojin.

 

 

> **Woojin**  
>  hey you home?

 

Jihoon nearly drops his phone. Instead, he tosses it on his counter and paces around his living room. What did he just do? Since when is he interested in his own self-destruction? The phone vibrates again, and although he tells himself to just ignore it, he can’t. Because it’s Woojin. 

 

 

> **Woojin**  
>  you should be home now. i'm not ready to die  
>  of worry park jihoon. your boyfriend over here  
>  (that's me) is WORRIED. answer him gdi

 

The only way to get Woojin off his back and to make sure he doesn’t have a fucking heart attack tonight is to answer, so he goes for something that should keep him safe until morning.

 

 

> **Jihoon**  
>  just got home sweetheart ❤ no need to  
>  worry your pretty little head again until tmrw  
>  so sweet dreams and remember i look better  
>  naked than clothed

 

 

> **Woojin**  
>  fuck you

 

Jihoon smiles even though he knows how super fucked he is. But it’s a smile that doesn’t fall off his face even after he takes a shower, brushes his teeth, washes his face, changes into his pajamas, and rolls into bed. Actually, he’s pretty sure, even as he drifts off to sleep, he’s still smiling.

 

 

After spending his morning in meetings about the new game idea he pitched several months ago and got the green light only a few months after that, Jihoon heads to his desk with just one thing in mind: grab his wallet, walk down the block to his favorite cafe, order an americano and flirt with the barista, then perfectly time his arrival so he can avoid small talk with the team before their next meeting. Woojin has other plans for him.

On his desk sits twelve red roses in a clear vase. No fucking way.

“Who’re these from?” Donghan asks from his desk right next to Jihoon’s. “New boyfriend? I thought you weren’t going to date again unless they met all your insanely high standards so that  you wouldn’t dump them after a few months.”

That is, indeed, what Jihoon had said after he broke up with his last boyfriend. But that was almost a year ago and he’d kept to his word until now so shouldn’t that count for something? So he ignores Donghan and grabs the little note tucked within the buds. He knows what it’ll say.

 

 _I’m the best boyfriend ever._ _  
_ _Your Love, Woojin_

 

Jihoon could not have said the word fuck loud enough to be satisfying, so he settles for a scoff. What the fuck is this? Some sort of torture? He reaches into his pocket to grab his phone, but he’s interrupted.

“Woojin?” Donghan asks, suddenly now peering over Jihoon’s shoulder, his head obnoxiously close to Jihoon’s. He starts chuckling. “ _Woojin_? As in your best friend Woojin? As in that guy you’d always text while we were supposed to be on a date? As in that dude you literally left to go hang out with after we had sex the first time?”

“Unfortunately,” Jihoon says, elbowing Donghan in the chest enough to make him back off but not enough to make him, “yes. That Woojin. Why the fuck is he sending me flowers? This isn’t really supposed to be real.”

Donghan is right back at his shoulder in a moment, wrapping an arm around Jihoon’s side to point at the part on the card that says _boyfriend_. “Because he’s your boyfriend. That’s what boyfriends do. It’s sweet. Maybe you don’t think it’s real, but he might.”

“He’s just going through the motions.” Jihoon sighs and sticks the card back into the bouquet. “He’s dating me so he can meet someone after me. Like you did. Like everyone does.”

“There’s so much I could say as a response to that, but we’re at work, so I’ll stay quiet. But I’ll say what I always say when you’ve got a new boyfriend. Enjoy it. Maybe this one’ll be the one.” Donghan lays both his hands on Jihoon’s shoulders and gives them a squeeze. “Go get your coffee. I was going to offer to go with you, but I think you’re going to want to go alone this time.”

For a second, Jihoon considers lying and telling Donghan he can come with him, but with his phone sitting in his pants pocket like a rock and his fingers itching to text Woojin, he’d be shit company. “Thanks. I’ll get you something?” Then he grabs his wallet, checks his email for anything super important, and blocks out the next half-hour on his calendar.

“What a good dongsaeng.” Donghan ruffles Jihoon’s hair. “Tell Woojin I say hi.”

“That sounds like a shitty idea… Tell my current boyfriend my ex-boyfriend says hi? I think not.” Jihoon smiles, though, and Donghan throws a hand over his heart as if Jihoon has wounded him. “Be back soon. If anyone asks, tell them I’ve died.”

“Will do.”

Once he’s in the elevator, he’s unlocking his phone and pulling up his exchange with Woojin. He thinks of what he could possibly say. Should he thank him? Should be belittle him? He doesn’t get a chance to think it over, though. 

 

 

> **Woojin**  
>  you’re being oddly quiet despite the roses i  
>  sent u… are u being shy sweatheart?

 

Jihoon’s free hand cramps into a fist and heat starts blossoming over his cheeks. What in the world is Park Woojin think he’s doing? He types out his reply quickly as the elevator opens on the first floor and he heads outside. 

 

 

> **Jihoon**  
>  this will not get you into my pants btw

 

 

> **Woojin**  
>  ;falskdjf THAT IS NOT- ok no i Am trying to a  
>  little BUT isn’t this what you’re Supposed to  
>  do when you date???

 

 

> **Jihoon**  
>  jesus fuck you don’t even Know how to dAte  
>  do you? My GOD why did i say YES TO  
>  THIS????

 

He has to stop at a light, so he takes a second to lock his phone and breathe. This was surely a bad idea. Maybe he should just call it off now? Woojin sending him flowers, fucking flirting with him in a way that’s actually possibly real and not just between bros, calling him shit like sweetheart—Jihoon is pretty sure his heart can’t handle it. He’ll get hopeful. He can’t let himself get hopeful.

So he stuffs his phone back into his pocket and walks to the cafe without pulling it back out. He orders his americano and then takes a seat at an open table as he waits for one of the baristas to make it. Pulling his phone out finally, he sets it in front of him. He doesn’t unlock it yet, just stares at the blank screen and contemplates what he wants to do.

Option one: take dating Woojin for real. More or less, teach him _how_ to do this whole committed relationship thing so that when he does find someone after they break up, he won’t fuck it up. This is what he _would_ do if he wasn’t in love with Woojin.

Option two: pretend none of this is happening. Go through the motions and let him do whatever he thinks dating actually is. In precisely a week, tell him he should be good now and break things off without any emotion. Return to how they were before. This is what he _could_ do if he wasn’t in love with Woojin.

Which means he really has no option. On the one hand, he wants to be a good friend. On the other hand, he wants to protect himself. After it’d become apparent to him that his exes always bounced back _better_ after he broke up with him, he’d told himself he’d never date someone he had real feelings for. Woojin is a chaotic bi who’s always seemed way more interested in women, so he’d been a safe bet. If only he’d known.

His phone vibrates. He has four messages from Woojin. His heart rate picks up a little as he unlocks his phone again to read them.

 

 

> **Woojin**  
>  so should i come over later or no lol like  
>  maybe dinner? i’ll buy you chicken will that  
>  make me a good boyfriend??

  

 

> **Woojin**  
>  fuck you can’t just stop texting back after i  
>  ask you out on a proper date!!!! after telling  
>  me you basically hate the flowers! My  
>  preCiouS eGO 

 

 

> **Woojin**  
>  PARK JIHOON I KNOW WHERE YOU LIVE  
>  I’LL JUST FORCE YOU INTO HAVING  
>  DINNER WITH ME

 

 

> **Woojin**  
>  you’re the Worst pouts

 

 _Pouts_? Oh dear lord. What the fuck is he supposed to do with that now that he’s imagining Woojin actually pouting and it’s just so cute? He can’t say no. It’s physically impossible for him to type those two letters together right now. He’s going to regret this, but fuck it.

 

 

> **Jihoon**  
>  you’re a fuckboy your ego will be fine.  
>  dinner’s a go i can meet at six. usual place?

 

He knows he’s going to wait with sweating hands for Woojin’s response, so he locks his phone and sets it aside for a second. He checks the drink queue and can’t see anyone who was in line in front of him anymore. Sure enough, his drink is set on the counter and his order and name are called out. He grabs it and a straw, goes back to the table he claimed. His phone vibrates. 

 

 

> **Woojin**  
>  i’m not a fuckboy if i’m your boyfriend, diff  
>  kind of boy i know hard to keep track but it  
>  means the only boy i’ll be fucking is you if you  
>  want to OK WOW I REALLY DO SOUND LIKE  
>  A FUCKBOY

 

 

> **Woojin**  
>  Ignore all of that. Yes to dinner at six usual  
>  place.

 

Jihoon lets out a long breath and hangs his head. He wants to beg someone for strength. Or at least advice. But he dug his own grave here and the only way out is to climb. He takes a couple drinks of his americano, checks the time, then heads back to the office. He takes the slightly longer way around the block so he can clear his thoughts before his next meeting. But by the look on Donghan’s face when he returns _without_ the drink he promised to get him, it’s clear the whole cafe trip was a total fucking waste.

“You should just tell him you’re in love with him,” Donghan says as he holds open the door for him to the meeting room.

“I’m not, so that’d be a stupid thing to say.”

Donghan just chuckles, shakes his head. “Wouldn’t be the stupidest thing that’s come out of your mouth, I’m sure. Think about it.” He pulls out the pen he tucked behind his ear and flips open his notepad, ready to take notes.

Jihoon forgot both paper and a pen, so he excuses himself to get them. He has to confront the roses on his desk once again. And fuck if they don’t smell beautiful.

 

When Jihoon arrives at their usual chicken place, Woojin’s already got a table and a bottle of soju ready for them. He’s usually late, so Jihoon has to repeat in his head a few times that _this means nothing, he’s not early for any particular reason, it’s not like he’s trying to impress_ you _of all people_. He’s not quite sure if he should say hi or what, so he ends up just taking the seat across from him.

Woojin doesn’t say hi, either.

Like two dumb idiots, they just look at each other as the silence stretches between them. After a few long moments, Jihoon feels his cheeks starting to flush because he’s not sure Woojin has ever stared at him for this long before. Jihoon swallows, licks his lips, breaks their eye contact to pour Woojin some soju.

“Work was good?” Jihoon manages.

“Little Woojin took a big shit in his pants again,” Woojin says, and Jihoon can still feel his eyes on him, “but otherwise, the kids were as adorable as they always are and they surprise me every damn day with how much they just absorb. Little adorable, disgusting sponges. You?” He takes the bottle from Jihoon and pours some into the cup in front of him, too.

Okay. This is normal. “I had a million stupid meetings and Donghan hyung was on my ass all day about those stupid flowers. But we actually made some decisions, so at least the day was somewhat productive.” Jihoon glances at Woojin now. A risk he’s willing to take.

Woojin is, indeed, still staring at him. But he paused somewhere in the middle of withdrawing his arm from across the table. He blinks, then suddenly it’s like his internal restart button is pressed and he finally finishes retracting his hand from its reach over to Jihoon’s cup with the soju bottle. “I forgot you work with Donghan hyung. God, you have so many exes.”

“As if you haven’t had sex with some of your coworkers.” Jihoon picks up his glass and tries to steer the conversation in another direction because this one is not great. It’s terrible. Awful. Hellish. “Cheers, I guess. I did appreciate the flowers, as embarrassing as it was and how ridiculous you have to be to send them the day after you begin dating someone. Next time wait a few dates?”

“Noted.” Woojin grins as he picks up his glass, too. They click them together, take drinks at the same time. “I mean, yeah, I’ve been around. We know this. Does it bother you?”

“Does me working with Donghan hyung and Jin hyung bother you?”

Woojin’s lip maybe curls a bit. “I forgot about Jin hyung, too. Damn. I mean. This isn’t really where I wanted this conversation to go, but maybe it’s good to clear the air? Sex has never really meant a lot to me because I haven’t cared much about the people I had sex with. If it bothers you at all if I interact with those people, I can make sure to keep it minimal, create some extra distance. Not that I regularly hang out with any of them but—”

Is Park Woojin actually _nervous_ about what Jihoon might think of his extensive fuck list?

Jihoon can’t stop the laugh that rises from the little skip his heart is doing. “I know. I’m your best friend, remember? I’m the last person who’s not going to understand. You’re fine. I’m not worried.”

“Not worried?” Woojin cocks an eyebrow. “That’s—I almost feel insulted, but I mean. You’re right not to be.”

“What’s that supposed to mean.”

“You’re the whole package,” Woojin explains as he takes another sip of soju then refills Jihoon’s glass, “and I’ve never tried to get into your pants properly before now because you’re basically perfect in every way. You don’t need to feel worried about anyone else. Not with me at least.”

All that is holy, why does this sound like a confession? Of course, Jihoon knows it’s just bachelor Woojin’s particular brand of flirting. Honest. Brazen. Straightforward. Maybe he never was trying to fuck with Jihoon before, but this definitely is Woojin trying to fuck with him. And a part of Jihoon fucking loves it.

Jihoon refills Woojin’s glass. “For now, yeah. That’s what boyfriend means, as you pointed out earlier. You’d be a bad boyfriend if I was worried.”

“Which is why I’m not going to be worried about your exes.” Woojin grins, pokes his tongue against his snaggletooth. This attractive fucker.

“You also don’t have to be worried because they’re all married now.”

“I’m sure you had your eye on a few people.”

“Not really.”

Woojin scratches the back of his neck. “No? I guess you haven’t been in a relationship for a few, which isn’t really like you. Not since Hyungseob, and that was like. What? Eight months ago? Usually you rebound pretty fast.”

“Just like you’re sick of being a bachelor, I’m sick of going from one failed relationship to another. I thought I’d wait until I met someone I really wanted to be with.”

“And you picked me?” Woojin reaches across the table again, this time to hold Jihoon’s chin delicately. “I’m flattered. I promise you won’t regret this. I’ll be the best boyfriend you’ve ever had. Maybe you’ll actually fall for me or something.”

As if that would be possible with how fallen Jihoon already is. He’s so far gone that he’s even playing along with Woojin’s blatant flirting and he’s letting himself get carried away a little. “If you’re lucky,” he says. He leans back in his seat, kicks his feet up on Woojin’s lap just to see what he’ll do. “I’ll need more flowers, though, and more chicken. Maybe a massage. Definitely going to need some ramen. Maybe a vacation?”

Woojin drops a hand onto one of Jihoon’s ankles, completely naturally. Then his hand slides up just enough to expose an expanse of skin just the right size for his thumb to start rubbing a small circle against. “Chicken’s on its way right now. I’ll work on the other shit after we eat. So you’re good with my long list of fuckbuddies and I’m good with your long list of exes.”

“Yeah,” Jihoon says, repressing a shiver, “we’re good.”

Their eyes meet, and Jihoon can barely breathe because there’s a charge Jihoon’s never seen in Woojin’s eyes. If Woojin ever looked at him like this before this point, Jihoon would’ve ignored it, would’ve decided it wasn’t anything worth acknowledging, wouldn’t let himself even wonder what that heat really meant. Jihoon holds his gaze, though, even if it’s sending fire across his skin, even if it’s curling desire into his gut, even if it’s sending off loud as hell warning bells in his mind. This is dangerous. This is only going to lead to heartbreak. This is only going to leave him more alone than ever before, only going to leave him more hopeless than should be possible.

But he slowly drops his heel between Woojin’s legs, smirks when he feels Woojin squirm for a moment and watches his eyes flutter.

“Damn you,” Woojin all but growls.

“You started it.”

“The chicken—” Woojin groans a little as Jihoon presses into him slowly. “—is coming.”

Then, on cue, Jihoon is rolling his foot back onto Woojin’s thigh, Woojin is clasping his hand around his ankle to keep it in place, and the waitress is dropping a bucket of fried chicken, American-style, onto the middle of their table with a side of fries. She asks if they want anything else, and Jihoon says no and thanks her.

“I did not start it,” Woojin says once she’s out of earshot. “But we can play that game if you want. I’m pretty sure I have a shitload more experience than you.”

“Oh?” Jihoon grabs a chicken leg. “You’ve been talking about wanting to fuck me all day, so I just thought I’d see if it was just all talk. Especially after that whole ‘you’re perfect’ bullshit you probably tell every girl you’ve hit on.” He starts eating and yes, for sure, chicken was absolutely the best idea for their first dinner date.

“As a matter of fact, I haven’t given that line to any girl. Or boy. Just one Park Jihoon.” Woojin grabs a leg, too. “You’re special. I’m not playing any games here. Not with you.”

He almost says, _but what else can we call what we’re doing?_ Because their relationship has an expiration date. And if Woojin is a good enough boyfriend that Jihoon doesn’t break up with him before then, then he’s set to basically find his soulmate. He just has to play his cards right. Jihoon, on the other hand, is pretty much set to lose everything.

Woojin isn’t Jihoon’s first love, but he’s the love Jihoon will remember for his entire life. Woojin will forever be his what-if. What if he’d confessed? What if they’d dated seriously? What if they’d worked out? What if they were meant to be? He was supposed to keep this in his heart until the day he died, a hopeful romantic until the very end.

Dating Woojin on the premise they’ll break up so that Woojin can find his one true love fucks all of that up. And Jihoon isn’t sure if he’ll be able to be supportive of Woojin’s romance as he has been with all the rest of his exes because he wasn’t really in love with them. So there goes his friendship, too.

He’s basically fucked. All that’s left is to enjoy this week as much as he can, enjoy the kind of relationship with Woojin he wishes he could have forever. Maybe a taste will be enough to satiate him and he can continue dreaming and continue being Woojin’s friend afterwards. Unlikely, but not impossible.

So he smiles, now finished with his chicken leg. He holds open his hand for Woojin’s because he always leaves all the good stuff still on the bone. “Keep going, boyfriend. If you want to charm my pants off tonight, you’ve still got a ways to go.”

“Did I mention I’m paying for dinner tonight?” He passes the rest of his leg over without missing a beat, grabs a wing this time.

“Did I mention everyone I’ve dated always paid?”

“Fuck. I’m not that rich. I teach pre-primary for fuck’s sake.” He sighs, rather dramatically. “Well, I’ve got the whole weekend. Any tips?”

“Just be you.”

“You like me that much?”

“Or maybe I’m just easy.”

“If you’re easy, I can change my tactic. Tell you what I’d do to you.” Woojin sits back now, taking his time now to finish his wing. After carefully chewing every mouthful, he continues, “I want to pin you to the door and make out with you until you beg me for more. I want to kiss all down your neck. I want to take time to undress you.”

Pretending he’s not getting hard, Jihoon waits for Woojin’s wing to finish off. “I thought I was special? That sounds like you do that shit with everyone.”

“You’d be able to feel it,” Woojin says. “You’ll be able to tell.”

And he’s not wrong. It’s after they’ve finished all the chicken and shared the soju, after Woojin has paid, after they’ve walked back to Jihoon’s apartment letting their fingers slip between each others—holding hands, ticking palms, entwining index fingers, caressing knuckles—that Woojin and Jihoon face off in front of his door. Woojin steps closer in that way that screams he’s going to kiss him, even leans a little forward with his eyes set on Jihoon’s lips.

Then he snaps his gaze to Jihoon’s and leans back, takes a step back. He opens his mouth to say something, but nothing comes out.

A part of Jihoon is happy. It’s better this way. The other part of him says, “What’re you doing? This is your last chance, isn’t it?”

Woojin runs a hand through his hair. He bites at his lip for a moment, and Jihoon can’t help but wonder if he’s nervous. But why? He sighs to the ceiling. “I don’t want to treat you like I treat everyone else—all the people I was just fucking. This is supposed to be different than that. So. Yeah. I think I’ll just go.”

“Treat me like your boyfriend,” Jihoon says. There’s a bite to his voice. “At least hug me, you idiot.”

Now Woojin studies him. He takes a step forward again, and his hands find Jihoon’s. They’re palm to palm until Woojin slips his fingers between Jihoon’s, and suddenly Jihoon’s heart is in his throat and he realizes he should’ve just let Woojin have his way and leave him be. This is much worse. This is so much worse. Because he leans down, slowly as if to watch for whether Jihoon seems like he doesn’t want it, and hesitantly presses his lips to Jihoon’s.

It’s not the first time they’ve kissed, necessarily. But those were drunken and Jihoon hadn’t even tried to fool himself into thinking they were more than kisses shared between affectionate, longtime best friends. This is different. This feels like there’s desire, passion in the pressure he’s carefully applying to the kiss. And it builds as their tongues meet, as Woojin moves his hands to Jihoon’s hips, as Jihoon slips a hand into the hair at the back of Woojin’s neck.

The kiss is fucking electricity, and Jihoon feels like he could eat it all up. Swallow it all down. Let it live inside of him and charge him all night, all day. Woojin presses their bodies together, backs him against the door just like he said he wanted to do, and Jihoon lets him do both. They’re in the fucking hallway, but Jihoon can’t control the moan that escapes him when he can feel Woojin hard against him.

It’s hard to break away from Woojin’s mouth—searing hot, soft and inviting—long enough to get his keys and open the door. They fumble with their shoes, don’t bother taking off more clothes than is necessary because Woojin is lifting him onto the kitchen counter, then unzipping his jeans. Jihoon suffocates on pleasure, chokes on the groans elicited deep in his gut because fuck if he hadn’t dreamed this shit, hadn’t imagined them like this one day. It’d always been in the context of friends with benefits, of a brojob or a mutual understanding of how awful it is to be pent up for too long. But no. They’re together and the way they’re doing this isn’t just for fun, isn’t just a one-off.

From the kitchen, they go to the bedroom and they lose their clothes and their control. Jihoon decides to stop caring about the aftermath of all of this because _this_ is all he’s ever wanted and he’s going to fucking take all he can get while he can.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> dearest ash, 
> 
> this is probably Nothing that you expected, but i hope it passes muster because as we all know you deserve the absolute world. i'm sorry for not finishing (or even getting anywhere near close to your wordcount) but know that doesn't reflect my respect or admiration for you at all … thank you for being continually amazing as both a writer and a person.
> 
> ❤ me


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